Florida Department of CorrectionsJulie L. Jones, Secretary

Futch Bill

Florida Statute 948.10 (12) states: “In its annual
report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
under s. 20.315 (5), the department shall
include a detailed analysis of community control
programs and the department’s specific efforts
to protect the public from offenders placed on
community control. The analysis must include but
need not be limited to, specific information on the
department’s ability to meet minimum officer-to-offender
contact standards, the number of crimes
committed by offenders on community control,
and the level of community supervision provided.”

In order to ensure community control contact standards are met, with virtually no exceptions, contact
requirements are reviewed on a weekly basis.

Since implementation of this policy, community control
officers are now meeting contact requirements on 98.3%
of the community control-supervised population.

A proactive, offender-based information system
(OBIS) generated report was developed for officers
and supervisors to ensure contact standard compliance
is achieved.

Number of Crimes Committed by Offenders on
Community Control

The department’s database reflects that 1,271 community control offenders committed a new crime
while on supervision. Of those, 225 were for misdemeanor offenses. Among the 1,046 felony
offenses remaining, 71 were for cocaine possession, 70 were for driving while license suspended/revoked, and 36 were for grand theft less than
$5,000. The offenses remaining ranged from
battery on a law enforcement officer to trafficking
in stolen property to forgery and others.

Level of Supervision Provided

Supervision levels are derived from a risk assessment system which is similar to the probation risk
assessment instrument established by the National
Institute of Justice. The system assigns a supervision level based on the offender’s probability
of re-offending, committing a technical violation,
or absconding. This distinction assists the community
control officer in identifying which offenders require
the highest level of monitoring and surveillance.

In the two risk categories established within community
control, as of June 30, 2005, 5.8 % were in the
higher community supervision level.

Additional specific efforts to protect the public
from offenders placed on community control
include:

Quality Assurance Contacts

In order to monitor the quality of contacts being
made with community control offenders, each
month supervisors randomly contact community
control offenders (5% of the community control
caseload), discuss the quality and level of their
supervision, and document these responses accordingly.

Ineligible Community Control Sentences

The department determines ineligible community
control placements based on the forcible felony
criteria and the current offense. Officers review the
complete criminal history of these identified
offenders for a prior forcible felony, and if the offender is determined to be ineligible for community
control, the sentencing judge is notified via letter
for further review of the sentence.

Of the 12,534 offenders placed on community control,
ineligible placements for FY 2004-2005 were 1.2%
statewide compared to 1.5% over the previous fiscal
year. Of those determined to be ineligible placements,
(153 placements), no action was taken on 125 and of
the 28 remaining, three were placed on Drug Offender
Probation and 25 were placed on regular probation.

Planned Compliance Initiatives

In order to enhance public safety and to enforce
conditions of community supervision, the department conducts planned compliance initiatives in all
20 judicial circuits. These are unannounced searches
of an offender’s residence. All offenders on community supervision may be subject to these events;
however, those on supervision for or with a prior
violent offense and those with a special condition of
random searches are emphasized.